Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: RJS Messancy (1926-1975, 1976-2005) / RFC Messancy (2005-)

Wednesday 10 August 2022

BELGIUM: RJS Messancy (1926-1975, 1976-2005) / RFC Messancy (2005-)

Stade Edouard Bosseler, Messancy (RFC Messancy, formerly RJS Messancy)

Belgium, province: Luxembourg

3 VIII 2022 / RFC Messancy - RRA Florenvillois 6-1 / Belgian Luxembourg, Provincial Cup - group stage, group D

Timeline

1926 / Foundation of Jeunesse Sportive (JS) Messancy. The club receives matricule 990 upon joining Belgium's Football Association. From the outset, the club plays its football at its current ground, situated at Rue d'Arlon, although it should be pointed out that, initially, the pitch was situated somewhat further eastwards than nowadays.
1929 / Promotion to Division 2, the equivalent of modern-day's Provincial League 1, for the first time. The club manages to maintain itself at this level for 17 years.
1940 / JS Messancy club member Edouard Bosseler, a soldier in the Belgian army, falls in combat near Martelange on the first day of the German invasion of the Low Countries (May 10th, 1940). After the war, the ground is named after Mr Bosseler, whose portrait photo is still on display in the clubhouse today. Although Stade (Edouard) Bosseler is the official name of the ground, the premises are usually referred to nowadays as (part of) the Complexe Sportif du Lac, named after the artificial lake created immediately north of the ground in the 1970s.
1952 / JS Messancy obtain the royal epithet, changing its name to become Royale Jeunesse Sportive (RJS) Messancy. That same year, the club is back in Provincial League 1 - beginning a spell which lasts for eight seasons.
1962 / RJS Messancy have another taste of Provincial League one following back-to-back titles in Provincial Leagues 3 and 2. The club descends back into Provincial League 2 in 1966.
1975 / While renovation works are carried out at Stade Edouard Bosseler, all club activities are moved to Terrain de Differt, a football pitch belonging to the Ecole Pères Maristes, for the duration of the 1975-76 season.
1998 / RJS Messancy is back in Provincial League 1 for the first time in over thirty seasons. The stay does not last longer than one single season though, with relegation following in 1999.
2005 / In a change of the organisational structure, RJS Messancy becomes a non-profit organisation, which involves an obligatory name change - and RJS becomes RFC (Royal Football Club) Messancy.
2010 / Inauguration of the synthetic (main) pitch with a gala match between the two strongest clubs in Belgian Luxembourg at the time: R Excelsior Virton and RE Bertrigeoise.
2013 / A new promotion to P1, with the club holding out for two seasons.
2022 / After an impressive title run in P2A, RFC Messancy has a new taste of Provincial League 1.
2024 / Finishing in fifth place in P1, RFC Messancy qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by RAFC Oppagne-Wéris (4-1).